Showing papers on "Mural published in 2015"

Maya Codex Book Production and the Politics of Expertise: Archaeology of a Classic Period Household at Xultun, Guatemala

Abstract: The discovery of mural paintings at the Classic Maya site of Xultun, Guatemala, provides an important context for the study of ancient literacy and writing in practice. The mural chamber was a place of writing where the hands of multiple scribes recorded events and astronomical tabulations on walls that were also painted with portraits of ritual specialists and the reigning king. We present evidence suggesting that creation and inscription of indigenous Maya books, called codices, also took place onsite by a specific cohort of ritual specialists called taaj. In this article, we seek to archaeologically “situate” these codex-like inscriptions in the mural room—revealing a crucial and distinctly Precolumbian window (as opposed to colonial Spanish view) into Maya bookmaking, its practitioners, and the physical contexts in which it was carried out. Together, the images, texts, and archaeological materials found in and around the chamber enable us to contextualize acts of writing and their authorship as well as engage larger questions regarding the social and political structures shaping literacy in Maya society during the eighth century.

Innovative Imaging Techniques for Examination and Documentation of Mural Paintings and Historical Graffiti in the Catacombs of San Giovanni, Syracuse

Abstract: This paper presents scientific and technical examination of two mural paintings and their historical graffiti located in the catacombs of San Giovanni in Syracuse, Sicily. Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI), Infrared Photography, 3D Photomodeling are presented as innovative imaging techniques used to capture significant details of the palimpsest, along with XRF non-invasive point analysis. These methods were performed on the Philadelpheia palimpsest and on the arcosolium of the Madonna. RTI technique was tested as a valid tool to enhance the readability and documentation of the numerous historical graffiti covering some of the murals, which are of high interest to scholars since they are useful to reconstruct the cultural history of the site. The results of the infrared RTI were particularly powerful in their ability to document graffiti on deteriorated surfaces painted with earth pigments. 3D Photomodeling also proved to be a successful and handy tool to document the position of paintings and graffiti in context with one another. The examination of the two paintings was integrated with an analytical study of the palette realized with non-invasive XRF.

Graffiti and the Critical Power of Urban Space: Gordon Matta-Clark’s Made in America and Keith Haring’s Berlin Wall Mural

Abstract: Analyzing graffiti—the image, the act, and the space in which it unfolds—reveals the institutional structures that shape urban spaces, and this is particularly evident in the context of Wall-era We...

Mobile hyperspectral imaging for the non-invasive study of a mural painting in the Belves Castle (France, 15th C).

Abstract: Art History and the conservation of paintings require knowledge of the artist’s materials used, such as pigments, binders and preparatory layers. This information can also provide insight into the artist’s working methods.In recent years, research carried out mostly on paintings has proved that imaging spectroscopy techniques can be used efficiently for material identification and for mapping on artworks. The development of such in situ tools capable of examining the entire surface of a painting is of interest to the fields of history of art techniques and conservationIn the context of a research project on the analytical study of the mediaeval mural painting in the Belves Castle (XV century), the potential of a new mobile system for hyperspectral imaging is explored.The pigments identified on the Belves mural paintings correspond to “classic” materials used in medieval times (red lead, red ochre, calcite and carbon black). From the methodologic point of view, the combination of methods has shown ...

Cork as canvas: exploring intersections of citizenship and collective memory in the Shandon Big Wash Up murals

Abstract: Urban space has the potential to shape people's experience and understanding of the city and of the culture of a place. In some respects, murals and allied forms of wall art occupy the intersection of street art and public art; engaging, and sometimes, transforming the urban space in which they exist and those who use it. While murals are often conceived as a more ‘permanent’ form of painted art there has been a trend in recent years towards more deliberately transient forms of wall art such as washed-wall murals and reverse graffiti. These varying forms of public wall art are embedded within the fabric of the urban space and history. This paper will explore the intersection of public space, public art and public memory in a mural project in the Irish city of Cork. Focussing on the washed-wall murals of Cork's historic Shandon district, we explore the sympathetic and synergetic relationship of this wall art with the heritage architecture of the built environment and of the murals as an expression of and for the local community, past and present. Through the Shandon Big Wash Up murals we reflect on the function of participatory public art as an explicit act of urban citizenship which works to support community-led re-enchantment in the city through a reconnection with its past.

Buddhist Murals Illustrating Unusual Features in Temple 36 at Sale and Their Cultural Implications

Abstract: This article describes Buddhist murals illustrating some unusual features and surviving in the small brick temple number 36 at Sale, one of the major satellite towns during the Pagan period. The town is located on the east bank of the Irrawady River, 30 miles downstream from Old Pagan. The temple and its principal Buddha image can be stylistically dated to the 13th century. A dated inscription, a later intrusion on the murals, provides solid proof that the murals predate AD 1582. Likely postdating the temple, the murals show mixed features, some indigenous but others perhaps introduced from Sri Lank and north-central Thailand into the area during the mid-14th century, the proposed date of the murals. These features had never been combined in such a fashion before and the resulting combination perhaps lasted only shortly in the mural tradition of central Burma. This is evidenced when the content of Sale 36 is compared with Pagan-era murals and others surviving from the 15th century. The intrusive status, in the mural tradition of central Burma, of the Sale 36 materials is explained in a context of trans-regional movements of the Mahavihara monastic lineage, originated in Sri Lanka, widely active in lower Burma and parts of Thailand during the 14th and 15th centuries. The Sale 36 murals might reflect the presence of this Sinhalese order in central Burma as well during the mid-14th century. These rare murals, a later addition in an already existing small temple, might correlate with a temporary role played by the Sinhalese order in central Burma during a limited period. It probably ultimately yielded to a more popular and more powerful Aran sect of the area.

Mural art therapy for young offenders hospitalised with a mental illness.

Abstract: Objective:To describe a mural art therapy project completed within an adolescent unit of a secure forensic psychiatric hospital.Method:The planning, implementation and consecutive stages of the mural art therapy project are described. Pertinent themes are identified.Results:A cohort of adolescent forensic inpatients was engaged in a group therapeutic process involving collaboration, design and the completion of an art mural. The participants generally approved of the project and identified themes of gaining a sense of achievement, empowerment, teamwork, involvement and ownership. The art mural transformed and improved the visual and spatial environment of the Adolescent unit courtyard.Conclusions:Mural art therapy was acceptable to young offenders hospitalised with mental illness, which has relevance for adolescent psychiatric units and youth detention centres.

To set before the king: residential mural painting at Xultun, Guatemala

Abstract: Maya murals depicting scenes of courtly life are well known from sites such as Bonampak; far less common are scenes depicting life outside the royal sphere. Recent excavations at Xultun in Guatemala have revealed well-preserved murals in a domestic context that offer a fresh perpective on life in the Maya court, that of the priests, scribes and artists who attended the royal governor. Here, the authors decode the images to reveal the lives and activities of those who planned, performed and recorded official events in Classic-period Xultun. One of only two well-preserved examples of eastern Maya lowland wall painting from the Late Classic period, this rare display of master craftsmanship outside of the royal court sheds new light on the lives of those who produced it.

From the Jordan River to Lake Titicaca: Paintings of the Baptism of Christ in Colonial Andean Churches

Abstract: The arts of the colonial Andes bear witness to a complex and contested story of evangelization that involved a variety of actors, including priests, artists, indigenous congregations, and confraternities. Sculptures of saints, sumptuous retablos (altarpieces), canvas paintings with elaborate gilded frames, and mural cycles devoted to a variety of biblical themes were employed in the religious instruction of indigenous communities, and as catalysts for sensorial modes of communication. The visual arts provided a tangible analogue to sermons and printed catechisms, offering parishioners a lens through which to envision the sacred. Adapted from European iconographic models and infused with local references and symbolism, religious art throughout the colonial Americas introduced new visual vocabularies to indigenous congregations, who quickly became conversant in these images of conversion.

Contexts of offerings and ritual maize in the pictographic record in Central Mexico

Abstract: The objective of this article is an initial enquiry into the evidence and classification of the offerings of maize in Central Mexico from the Classic period to early colonial times. In order to achieve this goal, we will analyse the presence of maize in Central Mexico according to the evidence found in mural paintings and some pictographic codices. Two Mesoamerican cultures will be considered to achieve our analysis: the Teotihuacan and Mexico-Tenochtitlan. Maize was instrumental in the performance of daily rituals and in the diet of these ancient Mesoamerican cultures and the cereal also had sacred connotations in pre-Hispanic, colonial and contemporary narratives. We suggest this by reading the iconographic and symbolic representations of corn in the form of seeds and pods, or as an ingredient in cooked foods which are represented in the mural paintings of Teotihuacan as well as some codices of the post-Classic Nahua tradition. These methodological enquiries reveal evidence of a cultural continuity in Central Mexico as a contrasting perspective on the archaeological and ethno-historical period.

The origins of mural painting in Ancient Peru: archaeometric preliminary study of the Ventarrón mural paintings, Valle de Lambayeque

Abstract: Since 2007, the research led on the Huaca Ventarron site has allowed investigators to discover outstanding wall paintings. These murals are one of the oldest examples of this artistic expression in the Andean area and American continent (4000 BP). Analyses have given indications on the materials and techniques used by the first painters, ancestors of a long pictorial tradition. Thanks to an archaeometric approach, combining observations and analysis (Optical Microscopy (OM), Scanning Electron Microscopy and Energy-dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (SEM–EDS), X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR)), it was possible to characterize the colorant materials used in the two constructive sampled phases. These materials are mineral pigments, iron oxides, clays and natural earth, mixed in order to create a wide chromatic scale. Through this research we were able to obtain the first analytical data concerning such ancient mural paintings. It was very useful to comprehend the emergence of this artistic expression in Peru. These results open new research perspectives as well about the origins of Prehispanic pictorial technology as about conservation of wall-paintings in earthen architecture.

A Troubled Vernacular: Legibility and Presence in Indonesian Activist Art

Abstract: Activist art and political resistance became popular aesthetics in the work of Indonesian artists after the fall of the New Order in 1998. In subsequent years, more art alternatives have emerged in cities and small towns across Indonesia, including diverse and vernacular modes of artistry such as street art and community-based international festivals. Where artists formerly focused their energies on critiquing the state, present art initiatives have become far more diffuse, counter-establishment, and localized in their approach. Local artists started the Jogja mural movement to rebrand Yogyakarta as a city of murals, while Jatiwangi Art Factory, an arts collective founded in a semi-industrialized village in West Java, has become a haven for performance arts and community-based projects for Indonesians and foreign artists in residence. This article looks at such experiments of legibility and presence as a new means of redefining publics and broadening the domain of political participation in Indonesia.

Mortar analysis of wall painting at amfissa cathedral for conservation - restoration purposes

Abstract: Contemporary artist Spyros Papaloukas in 1932 undertook a major artistic venture, the painting of the interior murals of the Amfissa Cathedral (Church of the Annunciation) a cross-domed church built in 1868 on the ruins of an early Christian basilica. In this 1000 sq monumental work, Papaloukas, even though he follows the strictly established rules of Byzantine ecclesiastical art, he dares to attempt a new approach to the aesthetic merits of Byzantine iconography by introducing elements of the post- Impressionists, the Fauves and the Nabis. Following our earlier work of spectroscopy of mural paintings in this Cathedral, here we present the analysis of ten mortar wall samples regarding granulometry and mineralogy, by XRD, SEM, as well as, a study of resistance-breaking and the level of mechanical strength was determined by comparing the diagrams of power – displacement, where the compressive strength of mortars ranged between 0.5-0.8MPa.

Before the Wall Came Tumbling Down Ephemerality and Chicago’s Wall of Respect, 1967-1971

Abstract: This article examines the well-known community mural, the Wall of Respect, begun on Chicago’s South Side in 1967, from the perspective of its ephemerality. A product of the Organization of Black American Culture’s (OBAC) Visual Arts Workshop, the Wall inspired similar murals across the United States. Completed at a moment when positive images of African Americans were scarce in the mainstream media, the Wall was filled with portraits of Black cultural and political leaders divided into eight sections (e.g., jazz, religion, politics, sports) accompanied by black and white photographic panels and text. The mural was conceived from the outset not as a static work, but as imagery which would change in response to community demands. Thus, the rise of the Black Power and Black Arts movements was registered in a series of alterations to the mural, outlined here, before its destruction in 1971.

Decolonial Arts Pedagogy and the Visual Metaphor: The Great Wall of Los Angeles Mural Project

Abstract: This thesis examines the methodology used to create the subject matter and pedagogy of The Great Wall of Los Angeles mural created by Chicana artist, Judy Baca. The analysis explores the visual metaphors present in the half-mile public art project through decolonial theory and visual metaphor analysis, and examines the artwork's aesthetic characteristics using cultural analytics techniques. The mural's social justice outcomes are considered for its ability to achieve youth empowerment through community cultural development. I further the concept of decolonial arts pedagogy to encapsulate a framework for producing and evaluating social justice artwork. I analyze the design and production aspects of the Prehistoric segment painted in 1976, and 1950s segment produced in 1983. The analysis considers youth recidivism programs and the concreting of the Los Angeles River through the program's artistic vision. The findings suggest that decolonial metaphors integrate the subject matter and youth pedagogy in the design and production phase of the mural. The findings have implications for the study of Chicano and Chicana mural arts movements, creative placemaking initiatives, urban environmental revitalization efforts, social practice training, and arts education.

Multi -functional electronic mural painting

Abstract: The utility model discloses a multi -functional electronic mural painting, the upper portion and the lower part of mural painting frame are provided with a function panel and no. Two function panels respectively, the LED display screen sets up the middle part at the mural painting frame, fixed hangers is the symmetry and sets up the top at the mural painting frame, usb power interface sets up the top right side at the mural painting frame, the RAM card slot sets up in the middle of the top of mural painting frame, the left side of a function panel is provided with the temperature display screen be provided with the voice broadcast loudspeaker between temperature display screen and the digital clock, the middle part of no. Two function panels is provided with the perpetual calendar display screen, the left side of no. Two function panels is provided with control and adjusts the touch -sensitive screen, the top left side of mural painting frame is provided with light intensity sensor, touch -sensitive screen electric connection is all adjusted with control to light intensity sensor, LED display screen and perpetual calendar display screen. This multi -functional electronic mural painting outward appearance is pleasing to the eye, and the function is various, and is easy and simple to handle.

Active carbon mural painting

Abstract: The utility model discloses an active carbon mural painting, including picture portion, picture portion surface adopt ventilative canvas, ventilative canvas rear be equipped with activated carbon layer, picture portion rear be equipped with and hang the box, hang box and picture portion intercommunication, hang and be equipped with a plurality of fan in the box, the air of fan in with the mural painting blow outside the mural painting, hang and still be equipped with battery case, luminance inductor and switch on the box, a plurality of fan be connected to the switch through the wire on, the switch be connected to the battery case through the luminance inductor on The utility model overcomes prior art's is not enough, is in the same place the combination that mural painting and active carbon are equitable, forms an air cycle through the fan, forms the air evolution ware of a plain type, and formaldehyde can be removed for the bridal chamber is quick again to the pleasing to the eye and artistry of existing mural painting, the benzene series, and ammonia, TVOC, the peculiar smell, harmful substance such as bacterium acarid, the sexual valence relative altitude, application range is wide

Digital Technology in the protection of cultural heritage Bao Fan Temple mural digital mapping survey

Abstract: . Peng Xi county, Sichuan province, the Bao Fan temple mural digitization survey mapping project: we use three-dimensional laserscanning, multi-baseline definition digital photography, multi-spectral digital image acquisition and other technologies for digital survey mapping. The purpose of this project is to use modern mathematical reconnaissance mapping means to obtain accurate mural shape, color, quality and other data. Combined with field investigation and laboratory analysis results, and based on a comprehensive survey and study, a comprehensive analysis of the historical Bao Fan Temple mural artistic and scientific value was conducted. A study of the mural’s many qualities (structural, material, technique, preservation environment, degradation, etc.) reveal all aspects of the information carried by the Bao Fan Temple mural. From multiple angles (archeology, architecture, surveying, conservation science and other disciplines) an assessment for the Bao Fan Temple mural provides basic data and recommendations for conservation of the mural. In order to achieve the conservation of cultural relics in the Bao Fan Temple mural digitization survey mapping process, we try to apply the advantages of three-dimensional laser scanning equipment. For wall murals this means obtaining three-dimensional scale data from the scan of the building and through the analysis of these data to help determine the overall condition of the settlement as well as the deformation of the wall structure. Survey analysis provides an effective set of conclusions and suggestions for appropriate mural conservation. But before data collection, analysis and research need to first to select the appropriate scanning equipment, set the appropriate scanning accuracy and layout position of stations necessary to determine the scope of required data. We use the fine features of the three-dimensional laser scanning measuring arm to scan the mural surface deformation degradation to reflect the actual state of the mural surface patch model. For the degradation of the surface of the pigment layer, we use the patch model to simulate the scan obtained from an analysis. Statistics calculated relatively objective mural surface area from volume data, providing more accurate quantitative data for the mural conservation, especially, providing a viable technology for accurate monitoring of continued degradation. We believe, in order to make use of the three-dimensional laser scanning technology in a digital heritage conservation application, the technology should not only be used to record the object geometry and play a role in record keeping aspects, but, rather, should be used during the investigation to protect against targeted degradation and a more meaningful interpretation function. Like the development of the medical application of X-ray technology not only retains a picture, but more importantly, through this technical interpretation of patient pathology, guides doctors in carrying out the treatment work. Therefore, in the process of digitization of cultural heritage research, the focus should shift to the use of digital technology in the analysis of heritage object degradation and degradation monitoring surveys can promote the application of digital technology in the conservation of cultural heritage.

A Brief History of Plastic Surgery: A Mural's Perspective.

Abstract: On the alley’s main entrance of the Jalisco Reconstructive Surgery Institute, stands proudly the first mural of Plastic Surgery History. It is a one of a kind painting depicting an artistic visual summary of the most important historical surgeons and physicians that have molded Plastic Surgery. The mural was entitled: ‘‘Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery History and Philosophy,’’ and its mere essence is a tribute to Plastic Surgery Worldwide through the ages. The mural’s size is six meters long and three meters wide. It is divided into a historical (two vertical and one horizontal canvas) and philosophical theme (central canvas) illustrating a timeline of Plastic Surgery (Fig. 1). On the left vertical canvas, a glance to Ancient History remarkably pinpoints figures from early civilizations such as the Egyptian surgeon Imhotep, Indian physician Susruta, Roman alchemist Celsus, and Aztec witch doctor Tictil. A lower horizontal canvas characterizes Renaissances’ illumined scientists such as French Ambrose Pare and Italian Gaspare Tagliacottsi. Following the same lane, Early Modern History characters such as French Dupuytren and Reverdin are also drawn. On the right vertical canvas, the Twentieth Century is represented by the New Zealand-born and British-based surgeon Sir Harold Gillies and Russian Filatov. America’s surgical legacy is represented by ingenious Padgett and prolific Converse. The mural’s central canvas sketches a Plastic Surgeon’s hand holding a scalpel, ready to improve and correct wounds or deformities through modeling, creating, or reconstructing. The value of the mural is comparable to many others painted by the late twentieth-century avant-garde movement of Mexican muralists such as Rivera, Orozco, and Siqueiros. The mural’s completion took 9 months, and the Guadalajara-born muralist Guillermo Chavez Vega under the Institute’s founder guidance created the mural. As part of the Jalisco Reconstructive Surgery contribution to the world, the lingual flap and the platysma’s muscle management for age rejuvenation are also incorporated on the central canvas. On a lateral wall adjacent to the mural, a place was left for the muralist to perform a free painting with a theme that traces half a body flaccid and fattened and half a body cosmetically improved this in 1981, the year in which liposuction was introduced to America from the European continent. The hospital is an international academic and health provider institution with a 57-year-old history with aesthetic and reconstructive excellence. Hundreds of plastic surgeon generations from every corner of the world have graduated from this prestigious institution joining forces with the second most important public university of Mexico, Universidad de Guadalajara. The institute’s vision and legacy of forming and molding plastic surgeons has been a constant ever since its conception. Art and science have intersected in so many ways and so many times, and & Jose Guerrerosantos joseguerrerosantos@hotmail.com

Hegemonic Shifts: The Latest from the Walls of Northern Ireland

Abstract: Introduction In a searchable online archive that covers the development of the murals of Northern Ireland from 1979-the present (featuring some 3000 images, with a further 9000 to be catalogued), I have attempted to register a remarkable, durable, and often contentious cultural phenomenon. (1) Namely, the ways in which walls in Northern Ireland have been used as sites of articulation and contestation, locations where political modalities can be asserted, violence threatened, history interpreted, identities expressed, and jokes made (to name but a few of the functions of the wall-texts that have appeared over the past thirty-five years or so). Underpinning the archive is the belief that the murals in their entirety constitute a complex, changing, fascinating body of public art that brings an added element to the understanding of the conflict in Northern Ireland and the 'peace' that has followed. Taken together, these materials provide an important record that renders significant insights into the complicated and strange history of Northern Ireland as it has passed from a state of war to the unstable and as yet precarious 'peace process'. The focus of this essay is on the changes that have taken place in the murals of Northern Ireland over the past decade or so (effectively since the 2006 St. Andrews Agreement), and more particularly the past five years. (2) It will be argued that although there have been important developments in the murals that reflect the consolidation of 'peace' during this period, the walls also tell a different story. (3) It will be shown that, perhaps predictably, given the paralysis and stagnation that have characterised the power-sharing/division of power arrangements, and the disillusionment, cynicism and bitterness towards the political settlement which is now evident, a number of murals offer representations that indicate the growth of tendencies that present latent but real dangers. The murals and their complexity I have written elsewhere about the evolution of the murals of Northern Ireland both in terms of form and function. (4) From the simplest beginnings--a flag and a slogan for example (fig.1)-the murals have developed into lieux de memoire, to use Pierre Nora's term, and now, significantly, form part of a burgeoning heritage industry that brings tourists to very specific parts of Belfast and Derry in particular (fig.2). (5) The relatively recent growth of mural tourism has undoubtedly had an effect on the form and content of artwork on walls in particular locations. On one of the main routes into Republican West Belfast, for example, at the junction of Divis Street and Northumberland Street, the 'International Wall' has become the site of a number of murals that address not just issues local to Northern Ireland, but topics of wider social and political interest (fig.3). [FIGURE 1 OMITTED] [FIGURE 2 OMITTED] [FIGURE 3 OMITTED] While on Cupar Way, the Loyalist side of the Peace Line (fig.4) now features not just murals by local groups (fig.5), [FIGURE 4 OMITTED] [FIGURE 5 OMITTED] but work by international artists-often in the form of tagging (fig.6), and graffiti by the multitudes of visitors brought by Belfast's numerous tourist-taxi firms (fig.7). [FIGURE 6 OMITTED] [FIGURE 7 OMITTED] The social effect of the influx of visitors that the murals have brought to specific areas is unknown though probably relatively limited since most tourists effectively hit the murals and run--especially on the Loyalist side. But this new phenomenon certainly engenders somewhat incongruous encounters. In the summer of 2014, for example, while photographing on the Loyalist lower Shankill estate (once the home of the notorious paramilitary Johnny Adair and still largely under the influence of the Ulster Defence Association), I noticed a coach pull up. The vehicle, which bore the name of its owners and their location--County Monaghan (in the Irish Republic), was rapidly emptied of its passengers, who turned out to be Spanish teenagers on a day out from their English language school in Dublin. …

El Proyecto La Pintura Mural Prehispánica en México: su labor en la difusión y conservación del patrimonio pictórico mesoamericano

Abstract: Since 1990, the project La Pintura Mural Prehispanica en Mexico has been devoted to register, study and interpret Pre-Columbian murals from a multidisciplinary point of view in order to bring them to larger audiences and help in their conservation. The results of the project are aimed to both specialists and the general public; these include exhibitions, publications and digital resources, as well as conferences, courses and workshops presented by its members. Virtual reality models of architectural spaces have been developed for and presented at Ixtli, UNAM´s visualization observatory, and we have a unique photographic mural painting archive that contributes to its preservation and increases every year. A great achievement was the creation of �Museo de la Pintura Mural Teotihuacana Beatriz de la Fuente�, the only Mexican museum devoted exclusively to Prehispanic mural painting. Thus, the project contributes in the appreciation and conservation of the Mesoamerican pictorial heritage.